A two-time Grammy-nominated artist who started teaching piano lessons out of her Woodlands home in 2010 now runs a 370-student music school on Market Street, one that sent 10 teenagers to record at a legendary Los Angeles studio earlier this year.
Sarah Kelly-Ekman and her husband, Jonas Ekman, co-own Sarah Kelly Music School at 9595 Six Pines Drive. What began as living-room lessons grew into a storefront studio in 2016 and has since expanded to a second location in Fulshear, Community Impact reported on Aug. 23.
The school offers group and one-on-one lessons in singing, songwriting, performance, piano and guitar for students ages 5 and older. Ten coaches and 15 interns staff the Market Street location.
From The Woodlands to EastWest Studios
In 2026, a group of 10 students traveled to Los Angeles to record original songs at EastWest Studios under producer Mike Clink, whose credits include Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction. Clink also produced Kelly-Ekman's 2006 album Where the Past Meets Today, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album.
"What a treat to take 10 students from Sarah Kelly Music School into the studio to record their songs," Clink said in a June 23 statement published by Woodlands Online. "I knew they would be prepared, focused and motivated to bring the skills they learned at the school to the session."
The students recorded alongside drummer Victor Indrizzo (Willie Nelson, Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani), bassist Sean Hurley (Miley Cyrus, Michael Bublé, Ringo Starr) and guitarist Andrew Synowiec, known for his work on Disney's "Let It Go" from Frozen.
Kelly-Ekman told Woodlands Online in June that the session was "the ultimate full-circle moment," noting she had worked with Clink 20 years earlier on the album that launched her career.
The school also took students to Nashville two consecutive weeks in 2026 to record with a producer whose credits include Taylor Swift. Kelly-Ekman said the trips produced 38 new songs she expects to submit to the Grammy ballot.
A teaching career rooted in touring
Before opening the school, Kelly-Ekman was a touring Christian artist signed to Gotee Records, a Nashville label under EMI. She is a two-time Grammy nominee. More than 100 of her students have had music appear on the Grammy ballot, according to the school's website.
One former student, MacKenzie Phillips, who started at the school at age 7, signed a record deal with Gotee Records, the same label that launched Kelly-Ekman's career.
Jonas Ekman oversees studio production, helping students get comfortable hearing their own recorded voice before progressing to professional-quality demos. "As they get more serious, I get more involved and we actually make the records that end up on the Grammy ballot, Spotify and Apple Music," he told Community Impact.
How to see students perform
Sarah Kelly Music School students perform every Friday at 6:30 p.m. during Live on the Lawn on Market Street. Student Liv Garcia sang the National Anthem at Market Street's annual Fourth of July parade in 2026.
The Market Street studio is open Monday through Friday, 1:30–9 p.m., and Saturday, noon–5 p.m. More information is available at sarahkellymusicschool.com or by calling (281) 687-3307.
